FIA Formula 2 championship leader Felipe Drugovich secured his third pole position of the season in slippery conditions at Spa-Francorchamps.
The MP Motorsport driver proved untouchable in the 30-minute session following an early red flag, caused by a spin for Hitech GP’s Juri Vips on the exit of La Source.
Vips’ team-mate Marcus Armstrong moved to the top once running resumed, lodging a 2m00.353s, with Prema’s Dennis Hauger managing to get within 0.049s. Drugovich was the first driver to dip under the two-minute mark, edging ahead of Armstrong just past the halfway stage.
As conditions improved in the final minutes, David Beckmann looked on course to beat Drugovich’s time before he outbraked himself into the chicane as he negotiated slower cars. Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan, another early spinner at La Source, then set a 1m58.941s to go quickest before Drugovich responded with a 1m58.232s to reclaim top spot.
Enzo Fittipaldi (Chaorouz) and Logan Sargeant (Carlin) improved late on to snatch second and third, but nobody was able to better Drugovich’s effort. Beckmann, replacing Jake Hughes at Van Amersfoort Racing for the remainder of the season, improved on his final lap to take fifth behind Doohan.
Carlin’s Liam Lawson was sixth, the Kiwi having also taken part in Friday’s opening Formula 1 practice session for Alpha Tauri, while Richard Verschoor was seventh for Trident. Drugovich’s closest title rival Theo Pourchaire was eighth for ART ahead of Prema’s Jehan Daruvala.
Ralph Boschung made an early return to action for Campos Racing, having suffered with severe facet syndrome in his neck, and is due to start Saturday’s sprint race from pole after setting the 10th-quickest time. Hauger ended up in 11th ahead of Armstrong, DAMS’s Ayuma Iwasa and ART’s Frederik Vesti.
Featured image credit: @formula2 official twitter
